Beth will engage young people through community and school-based early intervention and use restorative justice and other alternatives to jail. Beth supported all of the restorative justice laws which passed the legislature and is committed to its use for juveniles who are beginning to get involved in criminal behavior.

Address disproportionate incarceration of people of color

Beth will change our approach in order to promote justice for all. We are incarcerating too many people in this country; she will address the methods for handling low level crimes in the D.A.’s office to reduce the rate of incarceration. She will rid the office of any implicit bias.

Build trust between law enforcement and our communities

Our law enforcement officers have a very tough job. We need to work together to increase communication between law enforcement and the community. She will hold law enforcement officers accountable if they break the law and will establish open and transparent communication with community representatives. Beth will be accessible to community members and will require the deputy district attorneys to attend neighborhood meetings and listen to community concerns and input.

Provide alternatives for people with mental health and substance abuse issues

We are warehousing too many people with mental illness in our jails. As district attorney, Beth will work to increase treatment and alternative options for those who need them. Our prison system is becoming our mental health treatment system, which is not acceptable. In the legislature, Beth supported efforts to provide more funding for mental health and substance abuse treatment. She will work to support job training and assistance for those re-entering society after being in prison and support programs that provide second chances.

Prioritize prosecution of predators

Beth will prioritize the prosecution of child abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, elder abuse and human trafficking. She sponsored landmark human trafficking legislation that raised our national score from red (the worst) to green (the best). She has continued to advocate for the vulnerable victims of these crimes dating back to the time she handled a pimping case as a young deputy district attorney, and she will work to eliminate this scourge from our city. She also tried a horrific child abuse/murder case that resulted in a legislative change to increase the penalty for the death of a child through child abuse. Domestic violence is an issue she has worked on for many years and was gratified as a legislator to pass a law which provided more funds to programs for domestic violence victims. She also sponsored a law that prohibits people convicted of domestic violence from purchasing or possessing guns. She will not tolerate sexual assault and will make these cases a priority.